Academy Dorms — Courtyard Path
February 14th — 7:15 PM
Perspective: Kaiser Everhart
The magic lanterns along the stone path had already flickered to life, casting a warm, orange glow over the dry winter gravel.
Scarlet walked beside me, her hands still holding her chocolate box close to her chest. The cold evening air rustled her hair, but she seemed completely relaxed, her initial stuttering long gone.
"I still don't understand the appeal of romantic tragedy," I said, shaving a tiny sliver of wood from the edge of my carving. "Why read about characters who die of broken hearts?"
"Because it is beautiful!" Scarlet said, her green eyes bright. "The tragedy proves their love was fated, Kaiser. Don't you like happy endings?"
"I prefer practical endings. If the main character had just used simple logic, he wouldn't kill himself over a simple girl."
Scarlet giggled, her long elf ears twitching upward. "You have no romance in you at all. What do you even read? History books?"
"Adventure logs and historical architecture," I said. "At least they are educational."
"That sounds incredibly boring. No wonder you spent the entire afternoon looking at wood."
"Wood is trees. Trees are reliable. Unlike fictional characters who cry for 3 chapters because of a single flower."
"It was a rose of promise!" Scarlet protested, laughing.
"It was a rose of terrible decision-making. Seriously Scarlet, those lovers were idiots." I countered.
We shared a small laugh as the massive stone archway of the dormitory gates came into view.
I stopped walking.
A figure was leaning against the stone pillar by the entrance, her arms crossed and her head tilted slightly downward. Her pink ponytail bounced against her shoulder as she stood up, her cold blue eyes fixing onto us.
Elfie.
She walked toward us slowly, each step silent on the gravel. Her expression was completely blank, but there was a dark, suffocating weight to her presence that made the air feel instantly colder.
"Kaiser." Elfie said, stopping 3 steps away. "Did you enjoy your day?"
"Yes." I said. "It was pretty fun."
Elfie's gaze shifted from me to Scarlet. "You recovered so soon, Scarlet? I thought you were still too weak to walk."
Scarlet flinched, her ears instantly flattening against her blonde hair. "Elfina... yes. The medicine doctor gave me worked really well. I am much better now."
"I see. Better enough to spend the entire day with him."
"No!" Scarlet stammered, her voice shaking slightly as she took a half-step back. "We didn't spend the whole day! We just... met around noon... and then we walked near the library... and we went to the Commercial District..."
"So, you did spend the entire day together." Elfie's voice was soft, but it carried a sharp, dangerous edge.
"We were just... talking about books!" Scarlet made a desperate excuse. "Kaiser was looking for gemstones..."
Elfie took another step closer, her blue eyes locked onto Scarlet's trembling form. "And you accompanied him. How sweet of you. But I believe your recovery requires rest, Scarlet. Not long walks in the dark."
"Yes, we spent most of the day together." I intervened, trying to clear the air.
Elfie's gaze snapped back to me. She glared at Scarlet for a fraction of a second before looking at me, her fingers digging into her own palms.
"And did you enjoy it?" she asked.
"Yes, I did." I said. "It was a wonderful day. You don't seem too happy about it, Elfie."
Elfie's face tightened, her blue eyes flashing with a faint, cold starlight. "Why wouldn't I be happy, Kaiser? I am thrilled you had company today. Extremely thrilled."
"Do you have a problem with it?"
Elfie's jaw clenched. She looked back at Scarlet, forcing a sweet, entirely hollow smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Thank you for accompanying Kaiser today, Scarlet. But the sun is down. I will be taking my boyfriend now."
Scarlet's eyes widened, her jaw dropping. "Boyfriend??"
Elfie didn't answer. She reached out, her hand wrapping around my wrist in a grip that was surprisingly tight, and pulled me toward the dormitory entrance.
"We are going back to our rooms." Elfie told Scarlet. "Goodnight, Scarlet."
I looked back at Scarlet over my shoulder. "Thanks for the walk, Scarlet. See you at class."
Scarlet stood frozen by the gate, watching us go with a stunned, silent expression.
Elfie pulled me along the corridor, her pace fast and her grip on my wrist unyielding.
"You can slow down, Elfie." I said. "My hand is going to fall off."
She didn't answer.
"And 'boyfriend'?" I teased, looking at the back of her head. "I only said that as a joke to tease you earlier, you know. You need to be calm."
"I am calm." Elfie said.
"Your mana is literally freezing the stone floor under our feet. That isn't calm."
"I am perfectly calm, Kai. I just missed you. That is all."
"Right. So, did you have fun with the boys swarming you today? I heard you got a lot of attention."
Elfie stopped right in front of my room door, letting go of my wrist. She turned to face me, her breathing slightly heavy as she glared up at me.
"Why did you run off so early?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly. "I went to your room and you were already gone."
"I was wood carving," I said.
"Why? On Valentine's Day?"
"I will tell you later." I said.
I looked down at her. In the dim light of the hallway lanterns, her pink peasant dress fit her perfectly. The Sea of the Heart rings on her left hand caught the faint light. Despite her dark, possessive expression, she looked incredibly cute.
"You look really pretty today, Elfie." I said. "The dress suits you."
Elfie's glare didn't soften. The compliment had no effect on her stiff posture.
"You have been a bad boy today, Kaiser." Elfie said, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"Elfie—"
"Hanging out with another girl all afternoon. Enjoying her company."
"That was just a coincidence."
"I am not fine with this." Elfie said, her blue eyes glowing with a cold, celestial light. "I am not fine at all."
Before I could reach for my room key, Elfie raised her hand, her palm glowing with a soft, pale starlight that illuminated the narrow hallway. She spoke in a low, dangerous tone.
"Sopor aeternus, obdormio."
A wave of heavy, inescapable drowsiness hit me instantly. My limbs felt like lead, my eyelids grew heavy, and my vision blurred into darkness.
What is this...
My knees buckled, and I fell forward, my consciousness slipping away entirely.
Elfie stepped forward, her arms catching me as I fell. A soft, possessive grin spread across her face in the dark corridor as she held me close.
---
Academy Dorms — Kaiser's Room
February 14th — 11:38 PM
Perspective: Kaiser Everhart
My eyelids felt like they were glued together.
I blinked slowly, a dull ache throbbing behind my temples as the darkness gradually receded. The room was mostly dark, illuminated only by the silver moonlight cutting through the window and casting long shadows across the floorboards.
Ouch. My head.
I am still so sleepy.
I tried to raise my hands to rub my temples, but they wouldn't budge. I pulled, but my wrists hit a soft, unyielding resistance.
I looked down.
My hands were crossed and bound tightly at the wrists by the same pink ribbon I had been wearing all afternoon.
I tried to sit up, but a heavy weight was pinned against my chest.
Elfie was curled tightly over me like a sleeping cat, her head resting right against my shoulder and her arms locked-tight around my torso. Her pink hair was messy, spilling across my chest, and her lips carried a bright, glossy pink lipstick.
I glanced down at my shirt.
Dozens of pink lipstick marks covered my collar, my shoulder, and my neck. I could feel the sticky residue of a few more marks on my left cheek.
This is not the kind of retaliation I wanted.
Is this her idea of revenge? What the...
I shifted my hips, trying to slide out from under her.
Elfie pouted in her sleep, her brow furrowing. Without opening her eyes, she leaned up and bit down on my neck. It wasn't hard enough to draw blood, but the sharp pressure of her teeth left a clear, stinging mark.
"Ouch..." I muttered. "Elfie. Wake up."
Her blue eyes fluttered open. She looked up at me, her face only inches away, and a sweet, completely unbothered smile spread across her lips.
"Good morning, Kai." she whispered, her voice husky from sleep.
"Why am I tied up, Elfie?" I asked, looking at my bound wrists.
"So you don't run away," she said simply, resting her chin on my chest. "I saw you looking at the door just now. Don't look at it."
"I was just looking at the lock. Why are you treating me like a prisoner?"
"It is for the greater good," Elfie said, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You are too dangerous to be left alone. You wander off and get spoiled by other girls."
"That was a coincidence, I told you."
"Coincidences don't happen all afternoon, Kai. I am simply keeping you safe."
"Safe? In my own room, tied up with a ribbon?"
"Exactly," she said, her fingers tracing a line over my chest. "Here, you are mine. Nobody else can see you."
I had hoped she would be able to control her jealousy.
But this is wild.
"Do you know how annoying my day was?" Elfie pouted, her ears dropping. "I wanted to spend Valentine's Day with you. But you disappeared before the sun was even up."
"I had things to do."
"And instead, I was chased by Axel, Daniel, and Roman all morning. They kept trying to hand me love letters. And then those Class B elites trapped me in a courtyard with smoke magic. It was extremely irritating."
"So you took it out on me?"
"No," she said, leaning up to press a soft, sticky pink kiss right onto my cheek. "I am just making sure my boyfriend stays where he belongs."
"Boyfriend? We aren't dating, Elfie."
"We are now," she said, smirking. "You don't have a choice."
I wiggled my fingers, trying to find the knot of the ribbon behind my back.
Elfie's eyes flashed. She leaned down, planting another soft kiss on my lips, her lipstick leaving a sweet, waxy taste. "Nice try. But I can feel your muscles moving."
"You're acting like a crazy girlfriend, you know." I said, keeping my tone level.
"I am not crazy. I am just... dedicated."
"Dedicated people don't use sleep magic on their friends."
"You aren't just a friend. You are my Kai. And my Kai shouldn't be walking around with ribbons promised to me while other girls accompany him."
"The ribbon is still on my wrist," I pointed out. "I kept my promise."
"You're still too nice to people."
"I am literally known as the most antisocial person in Class C."
"That's because they don't know you." Elfie said, her voice turning soft as she brushed a stray strand of hair from my forehead. "I know how soft you are."
I managed to slip one of my thumbs through the loop of the ribbon, loosening the tension. I pulled my hands apart, breaking the knot.
I went to sit up.
Elfie's eyes instantly narrowed. "Trying to get free?"
She snapped her fingers.
The pink ribbon glowed with a faint starlight, tightening back around my wrists instantly, binding them even tighter than before. The magic bound my hands securely, pinning them to the mattress.
I sighed, dropping my head back onto the pillow.
How can my life be so sad?
Some men are drowning in options.
Others are dying of thirst.
And I am currently tied up by a girl who won't let me leave my own bed.
"Elfie, let me go," I said, looking her in the eyes. "I was actually busy all day because of you."
Elfie froze, her ears perking up. "Because of me?"
"I was trying to make you a gift."
Her blue eyes widened, her possessive grip loosening slightly. "A gift?"
"Yes." I said. "I spent the entire morning and afternoon carving something. I wanted to give it to you today, but I needed a gemstone for the center."
"A gemstone? You didn't buy one?"
"Because I am broke." I said. "So I got a rock instead."
"A rock?" Elfie looked confused, her hands shifting to my sides. "Kaiser, where is it? I checked your pockets before I tied you up."
"I cut and sewed a secret deeper pocket inside my trouser pocket." I said. "You didn't feel it."
Elfie stared at me, completely stunned. "You did what?"
"It is a basic anti-pickpocket strategy. Now untie me so I can get it."
Elfie hesitantly snapped her fingers. The pink ribbon glowed and fell loose, pooling onto the sheets.
I sat up, rubbing my wrists to get the blood flowing. I reached deep into my right pocket, pushing past the standard cloth lining until my fingers slipped into the hidden compartment. I pulled out the smooth, gray river stone I had kept all afternoon.
I held it out to her.
Elfie looked at the stone, then up at my face. "Kai... This is a rock."
"I know. That's why I need you to turn it into a gem."
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"Natural diamonds are just carbon atoms compressed under extreme pressure and high temperature deep within the earth's crust over millions of years," I explained. "With your space and gravity magic, you can simulate those exact conditions in seconds."
Elfie tilted her head. "Compressing a rock?"
"Yes. Isolate the stone in a tiny, pressurized pocket of space. Increase the gravitational force to compress the molecules, while using a small friction heat to break the crystalline bonds. Force the carbon to recrystallize into a dense lattice."
Elfie looked skeptical, but she raised her hands, hovering them over the river stone.
A soft, pale blue starlight wrapped around the rock. The air in the room began to warp, a low, vibrating hum filling the quiet space as the gravitational pressure intensified.
"It is really hard, Kai..." Elfie muttered, her brow furrowing as sweat beaded at her temples. "The pressure is too high... my control is slipping. I cannot force it into a diamond structure. The carbon lattice is too dense."
"Then don't aim for a diamond." I said, watching the glowing sphere. "Let the crystals align naturally. Let the light pass through."
"Okay..."
Elfie focused, her starlight turning a deep, rich violet.
A sharp cracking sound echoed through the room. The starlight vanished, and the heavy pressure in the air dissipated.
In Elfie's palm lay a beautiful, transparent gemstone. It was completely clear and faceted, catching the silver moonlight and reflecting it in sharp, brilliant beams across the walls. It wasn't a diamond, but a gorgeous, reflective white crystal.
I took the gemstone, checking its clarity. It was cool to the touch and fit the dimensions of my carving perfectly.
"Close your eyes, Elfie." I said.
She blinked, her blue eyes filled with curiosity, but she slowly closed them, her long eyelashes resting against her cheeks.
I reached behind her neck, sliding a thin, dark leather cord over her head. The pendant settled gently against her collarbone, the pale birch wood cool against her skin. I reached down, carefully pushing the newly created white crystal into the hollow center of the wooden star, pressing it until it clicked firmly into the carved grooves.
"Is it a pendant?" she asked, her voice quiet.
"Wait," I murmured, adjusting the alignment. "Now open them."
Elfie opened her eyes and looked down.
In the silver moonlight, the pale birch wood shone with a soft, clean grain. The pendant was carved into two sections. The top was a small, delicate four-pointed star holding a tiny fragment of clear quartz in its center. Hanging from a small, hand-carved loop below it was a larger four-pointed star. Surrounding the larger star were two sweeping, interlocking wooden rings that formed a tilted orbital path around its core.
At the very center of the star, the white crystal we had just compressed sat perfectly, catching the faint light and scattering it in tiny, reflective beams across her pink dress.
Elfie raised her hand, her fingers trembling slightly as she touched the smooth wood.
"Flip it over." I said.
She turned the larger star around. On the back, carved with thin, precise lines, was her name, Elfie, enclosed in a small heart.
"I wanted to get you gold or silver." I confessed, rubbing the back of my neck. "But they were too expensive. I had to go with wood instead."
Elfie didn't speak. She just stared at the pendant, her thumb tracing the carved letters on the back. The silence in the room stretched on, the only sound being our breathing.
"Thank you." she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"It's not much." I said. "Just a piece of birch."
"It is beautiful, Kai." she said, looking up, her blue eyes shining with a soft, watery warmth. "Truly. I don't care about gold or silver. You carved this... yourself?"
"9 attempts." I admitted. "The first 8 split in half because my cuts were too deep. Birch is delicate, and I am not a carpenter."
Elfie pressed the pendant against her chest, holding it close to her heart. "You stayed up all night studying for that, and worked all day... for me."
"You deserved something special. And you said you wanted a gift."
"I love it." she said, a soft, genuine smile breaking across her face. "It is the best gift I have ever received."
"It is just wood and a compressed rock. Nothing fancy."
"It is fancy to me." she said, stepping closer until her forehead rested against my shoulder.
"Because you made it."
We stood there for a quiet moment, the tension from earlier completely vanishing into the calm night air.
Then, Elfie stepped back, a playful spark returning to her eyes. "I have a gift for you too, Kai. Let's go out."
"With this many kiss marks?" I asked, gesturing to my collar and face.
Elfie blinked, looking at my neck and cheeks, which were covered in waxy pink lipstick marks. Her face instantly flushed bright crimson, her possessive composure completely shattering as she came back to her senses.
"I... I..." she stammered, covering her face with her hands, her ears turning dark red. "I didn't realize I did that many..."
"I will change my shirt and wash my face." I said, walking to the washroom. "Give me 2 minutes."
I washed the pink marks off my skin, changed into a fresh black shirt, and returned to the room.
Elfie was waiting by the door, her cheeks still slightly pink. The moment I stepped near, she grabbed my right hand. She raised her left hand toward the lock, her mana shifting.
Click.
The lock turned on its own. She pushed the door open, dragging me out into the hallway. We sprinted silently down the corridor and up the spiral stone stairs, emerging onto the flat, stone roof of the dormitory.
The night sky was dark, heavy gray clouds blocking the stars.
"The sleeping spell wasn't just for retaliation, Kai," Elfie said, standing near the stone ledge. The wind caught her pink dress, making the fabric billow around her. "I wanted to make sure you were well-rested before my gift."
She stood a few steps away, looking back at me with a soft, nostalgic expression.
"Do you remember when we were kids?" she asked. "In the orphanage. We wanted to see what was above the clouds."
"I remember," I said. "You got yourself completely exhausted trying to recreate a wind spell to let us fly. You slept for 2 days after that."
Elfie smiled, her ponytail swaying in the breeze. "Tonight, we are going to fly again."
"That is too much, Elfie," I said, looking up. "And it is cloudy tonight. We won't see anything."
"Not anymore," she said, raising her hands toward the sky. Her celestial mana flared, a bright blue light enveloping her arms.
"Ventus absterge, coelum serenum."
A massive wave of wind erupted from her palms, rushing upward into the sky. The heavy gray clouds were swept away, pushed back in a wide, circular ripple until the entire sky above the academy was completely clear, revealing a deep velvet expanse glittering with thousands of silver stars.
Elfie turned back to me, extending her hand. "Hold on."
I reached out and took her hand.
The moment our palms met, a warm, electric sensation flowed from her skin into mine. My body felt instantly lighter, the pull of gravity fading until my boots barely touched the stone roof.
Elfie raised her other hand, chanting a low, melodic incantation that blended wind and starlight.
"Aetheris ventus, subveho celestia."
Our feet left the stone.
We lifted off into the cool night air, rising slowly at first, then accelerating upward. I held her hand casually, but Elfie slid her fingers between mine, interlocking them tightly.
We shot past the roof, rising higher and higher until the buildings of the academy turned into tiny stone blocks below. The cold wind rushed past my ears, but a warm barrier of celestial mana protected us from the chill.
We broke through the upper atmosphere, hovering just above the remaining low-hanging clouds. The silver moonlight reflected off the white vapor below us, making it look like a sea of glowing mist.
"We are going to be visible if we stay here," I said, looking down at the capital lights shining through the gaps in the clouds.
Elfie pouted, pulling me slightly closer as we drifted in the starry sky. "Just enjoy it, Kai."
She looked up at the endless stars, the white crystal pendant resting against her chest reflecting the celestial glow.
"Because tonight, the sky is yours, Kai," she whispered, her hand squeezing mine.
I looked at the stars, then at the girl beside me, the cool wind carrying the scent of the sea and her hair.
Maybe practical endings aren't the only ones that matter.
---
Above the Clouds — 12:14 AM
The wind hummed softly around our barrier as we drifted.
Elfie looked down at the capital below, her eyes narrowing as she raised her left hand, fingers curling as if grasping the empty air. She began to chant, her voice carrying a deep, resonant vibration that echoed through the quiet night.
"Ignis et electro, sistite motum. Lumina terrarum, obcurate oculos. Fiat obscuritas profunda."
A ripple of pale blue electricity cascaded from her fingertips, spreading outward in a massive, expanding dome that swept across the atmosphere.
I looked down.
Slowly, the glittering gold and white lights of the capital began to flicker and die. The streetlamps, the mansion lanterns, the commercial neon signs, and even the magical mana-lights illuminating the academy courtyards vanished, plunging the entire city into complete, absolute darkness.
"What did you do?" I asked, stunned.
"I stopped the flow of electricity and mana-based currents over a 50-kilometer radius." Elfie said, looking back at me with a soft smile. "Just for a little while."
"You are crazy." I muttered. "This is mind-blowing, Elfie. You've blacked out the entire capital."
"I am not done yet." she said.
She looked up at the sky, her hands moving in a graceful, circular arc.
"Absorbe caliginem, aetheris puritas, lux erratica discede."
A silent shockwave of purple mana rippled through the air around us, expanding outward into the horizon.
At first, nothing happened. The sky remained dark.
"What was the point of that?" I asked. "Why remove the light?"
"Because of how light travels," Elfie explained, her voice soft as she let go of my hand, drifting back a few feet. "The moisture, the dust, and the air molecules in the atmosphere scatter the artificial light from the ground. It creates a dome of light pollution that blocks the faint stars. By temporarily clearing the dust and aligning the air molecules, the light can pass through without scattering."
She opened her arms wide, her pink peasant dress billowing in the high-altitude wind.
"Now, look."
I turned my head.
My breath caught in my throat.
Without the artificial glow of the city and the scattered light of the atmosphere, the sky had transformed into a masterpiece.
A colossal, breathtaking band of the Milky Way stretched across the heavens, a brilliant river of deep violet, soft gold, and cosmic dust. Millions of tiny, diamond-like stars blanketed the velvet sky, glowing with an intensity I had never seen before. The colors were vibrant and alive, shifting from magenta to deep blue, reflecting off the white clouds below us like a sea of glowing mist.
I have never seen anything like this.
In the orphanage, the smoke from the chimneys always made the sky vague.
Even in the countryside, the air was never this pure.
It should be physically impossible to see the cosmos this clearly.
Elfie floated closer, her face lit by the soft starlight. "The capital's folks might be a little mad, but I think they'll forgive us for a view like this, right?"
Down on the ground, the sudden blackout had pulled thousands of people out of their homes in confusion.
"What is the meaning of this? The estate's mana-grid has collapsed!" a noble shouted from his garden.
"Look up..." another voice whispered from the street. "By the heavens, look at the sky."
On rooftops and balconies across the capital, children pointed upward. "Look, Mama! The stars are so bright! I've never seen the river in the sky!"
"It is like a dream," a mother murmured, clutching her child. "How is this possible?"
From her family balcony, Rose Valentine stood in her blue nightgown, her ruby eyes reflecting the glowing cosmic dust. "So this was the breathtaking sight Elfina asked me to stay up late for..." she whispered.
From our Class C dorm window, Scarlet Hearst stared up, her hands clasped together, a soft smile on her lips. "This... you went too far..."
From their dorm entrance, Kayla, Milo, Victor, and Ivy walked out.
"Whoa, did someone blow a fuse?" Milo asked, scratching his head and looking around. "The whole capital is blacked out!"
"Shut up and look up, Milo," Ivy muttered, pointing a finger at the cosmos. "It is not the city that is blacked out."
Kayla watched the faint atmospheric ripples. "To manipulate atmospheric light refraction on this scale... it is impossible. There is only 1 person in this academy with celestial magic precise enough to isolate the entire capital." Her gaze hardened.
"Elfina."
Almost all the students of Asura Academy had walked out of their dormitories, their faces upturned toward the glowing purple cosmos.
Rigel and Leena stood near the gates, staring in quiet awe, when Victor ran up to them, his chest heaving as he pointed at the sky.
"Did Elfina cause this?" Victor asked, his voice shaking with disbelief.
Rigel sighed, raising his phone and turning the glowing screen toward Victor. On it was a broadcast message sent to every student across all classes:
"Hey guys! It's me Elfina! I want you all to stay up late tonight. I have a once in a lifetime gift for the academy and the capital."
Victor stared at the screen, then looked back up at the sky. "This is beyond fantasy..."
"I cannot believe she actually did it." a Class B student muttered nearby, his jaw dropped.
"No wonder she is the most gorgeous and wanted girl in our year..." a Class C boy said, his eyes practically turning into hearts. "She is perfect. She can do literally anything!"
"A literal goddess!" a Class A student whispered. "And she did all of this just for a Valentine's Day gift."
Lucas Reindhardt, who had been doing a late-night run through the academy gardens, stopped in his tracks. He stared at the sky, a rare, genuine smile appearing on his face as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"An absolute vacuum of light pollution... Space magic used for visual aesthetics." He chuckled, a cold spark in his eyes.
"Hmph. You really are a monster, Elfina."
At the imperial palace balcony, Emperor Noctis and Empress Rosaline stood side by side, looking at the cosmic river.
"Is it magic, Noctis?" Rosaline asked.
"Yes..." Noctis confirmed, his eyes fixed on the moving stars. "And it is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen."
"Who could be capable of such grand, celestial magic?" Rosaline wondered. "To control the capital's mana-flow so effortlessly?"
"An anomaly..." Noctis muttered. "A true masterpiece in the making."
Up above the clouds, I looked back at Elfie.
"It is the second most beautiful thing I have ever seen." I said.
Elfie pouted, her ears drooping slightly. "Why not the first?"
"It just can't be." I said, keeping my eyes on her.
Elfie's pout melted into a smirk. "Maybe not yet. Because I have more."
She closed her eyes, her hands clasping the wooden pendant around her neck.
"Stellae movete, caeli chorea, ignes cadentes exorate."
A low hum vibrated through the air.
Suddenly, the stars began to move. The cosmic dust of the Milky Way rippled like water, and a spectacular cascade of shooting stars began to trace brilliant, glowing trails across the sky, arching over us as a gentle breeze blew past.
"That is impossible." I said, my voice barely a whisper. "Even for you... for anyone."
"It is just a little trick." Elfie said, drifting back to my side. "I am using my space magic to warp the gravitational lensing of the atmosphere, bending the light of the stars to make it look like they are shooting. It is just an illusion, Kai, but it is real to us."
She looked at me, her blue eyes reflecting the shooting stars. Her expression turned incredibly soft, and she reached out, taking both of my hands in hers.
"Thank you for everything, Kai." Elfie said, her voice trembling slightly.
"I wanted to give you this because..." She paused, taking a deep breath. "you have always been my hope. No matter how dark it got, or how annoying the world was, you were always there. There are not enough stars in this universe, and no galaxies in the sky, that can compare to how happy you make me. No matter how far I have to go, or what I have to face, I will always choose you. You are my everything."
I floated in the silent air, the shooting stars falling around us, and felt a genuine smile spread across my face.
"You brought me the most beautiful sight a person can witness, Elfie." I said.
"I will make it for you every day if you like it." she teased, her eyes shining. "I am your special girl, remember?"
I looked at her bright, adorable smile.
I remember.
I called her special back when we were kids, long before she ever possessed magic.
Not for what she could do.
But because her smile was the only warm thing in a very cold world.
"Yes." I said, squeezing her hands. "You are."
Elfie smiled back, her forehead resting against mine as we drifted under the falling stars.
I looked down at the wooden pendant resting against her collarbone. "Is there anything else I can do to make you happy tonight?"
Elfie raised her hand, lightly touching the birch star. "You've already made me the happiest girl in the world, Kai. I don't need anything else."
I smiled. "So, did you like the love letters and poems the boys wrote you today?"
Elfie made a face, looking slightly nauseous. "They were awful. I checked the messages they sent to my phone too, and not even 1 of them was readable. It was all so generic and dramatic."
I laughed. "Can I try?"
Elfie's ears perked up, her eyes widening. "You? You are going to recite a poem to me?"
"Yes." I said. "I am. It is what I feel right now."
Compared to the cosmic scale of her gift, my wooden carving is a pale comparison.
I have to do my best.
No more holding back.
I took a deep breath, staring into the mesmerizing depths of her blue eyes.
"A night has dawned, so profoundly blessed,"
"The one whom the world admires from afar, sits close to my chest."
"There is so much to say, yet within my heart, a lingering plea—"
"Should I voice the words I whisper daily in my dreams, or let them be?"
I held her gaze, drifting slowly around her in the quiet starry void.
"In your eyes, there resides a wondrous, mesmerizing grace,"
"Oh, in your eyes, a strange, captivating allure holds its place."
"They turn my heart into a soaring kite, drifting through space—"
I floated toward her, closing the distance between us.
"For your breaths are the very winds that guide it in flight."
I looked up at the silver moon, then back to her face.
"Alongside you, a celestial radiance has unfurled,"
"The moon itself seems but a pale shadow of your light in this world."
"The way your gaze has swept over my heart, leaving its trace,"
"Has wrought a beautiful chaos I gladly embrace..."
I reached out, my fingers gently brushing against her cheek.
"Now, my only prayer is to drown deep within your eyes, and find my shore,"
"To lose myself completely, and sail across forevermore."
Elfie stood frozen, her breath hitching. Her blue eyes welled up with tears, catching the light of the shooting stars that continued to arc across the night sky. She looked at me, completely speechless, her lips parting but unable to form words.
Without warning, she threw her arms around my neck, burying her face into my shoulder as she began to cry softly.
"You are too good with words..." she sobbed, holding me so tightly I could feel her heart beating against mine.
I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding her close as we drifted above the world.
"Did you like it?"
"It is the best..." she whispered against my neck. "I love it, Kai."
"You're a crybaby, you know," I teased, gently rubbing her back as she shook slightly in my arms.
"I am your crybaby," Elfie mumbled, sniffing as she buried her face deeper into my collar. "So stop me from crying."
I laughed softly, reaching up to wipe the tears from her cheeks. The silver starlight caught the wet trails on her skin. I pointed up at the sky, where the glowing trails of shooting stars continued to rain down around our barrier.
"Make a wish, Elfie," I said. "Look how many stars are falling."
Elfie looked up, her blue eyes reflecting the cascading lights. She took a deep breath, cupped her hands around her mouth, and screamed her wishes into the endless sky, her voice carrying across the empty atmosphere.
"I wish that none of my classmates ever get expelled, and we all graduate together!"
She took another breath, shouting even louder.
"I wish I grow up to be an adult faster!"
"I wish to be the greatest celestial magic user in the entire world!"
She paused, her voice turning softer but still clear as she looked directly at me.
"And I wish... I wish that Kai and I will be together forever!"
The wind caught her pink hair as she finished, her face slightly flushed from the shouting. She turned to me, nudging my chest with her forehead. "Your turn, Kai. Wish for something."
I smiled, looking at the shooting stars. "I wish that all of Elfie's wishes come true."
Her smile widened, her eyes shining with warmth. "That is cheating. Wish for something for yourself."
"You are my everything, Elfie." I said, looking back into her eyes. "I don't need anything more."
Elfie's face instantly turned bright red. She hid her face in her hands, her ears drooping. "Stop it... even in the sky, you are such a tease."
I wrapped my arms back around her waist, pulling her close. The warm barrier of her mana surrounded us as we floated weightlessly in the quiet night.
"I like being in the air. It's refreshing."
Elfie looked up at me, her hands resting on my shoulders. "I have a request, Kai."
"What is it?"
"Do you really think that way? That I am... your everything?"
"Yes." I confessed.
Elfie swallowed hard, her fingers tightening on my black shirt. "Then... kiss me."
I leaned back slightly, surprised.
"Don't stare at me like that!" she stammered, her face fluster-red as she looked away. "I was just... craving one. You don't have to look so serious."
I sighed, a soft smile returning to my lips. "Yes, princess. Anything for you."
Elfie tilted her cheek toward me, her eyes closed, expecting me to press a kiss to her cheek or forehead as I had always done since we were children.
I didn't.
Instead, I reached out, my fingers wrapping gently around her chin. I tilted her face back to face mine, forcing her to open her blue eyes.
"The sky tonight and the galaxy are indeed the second most beautiful thing I've seen." I murmured, looking into her eyes. "And the first..."
I leaned in, my face only inches from hers.
"You, Elfie, are the most beautiful thing that I ever happened to my life."
I pressed my lips against hers.
Elfie's eyes instantly melted, her eyelids fluttering shut as the soft warmth of the kiss broke through her defenses.
At that exact moment, the gravitational focus of her magic wavered. The upward momentum holding us in the air dissolved, and our weight returned in a rush.
We began to fall.
We plummeted from the high atmosphere, rushing downward through the cold wind as the stars continued to shoot across the velvet sky above us.
She is my princess.
The one reason I can be happy and smile for another day.
My sole reason.
I wrapped my arms tightly around her, shielding her body with mine, and she locked her arms around my neck, holding me as if she would never let go. We fell faster and faster, the dark outline of the capital and the glittering sea rushing up to meet us.
---
Perspective: Elfie
My mind was completely blank.
The warmth of his lips on mine had sent a shockwave of heat straight to my heart, making my entire body feel weak and limp. The magic I had spent hours preparing simply slipped away from my control, but I didn't care. I couldn't even bring myself to care that we were falling from the sky.
He kissed me.
On the lips.
This is our second kiss.
This is the best day of my life.
The wind screamed past my ears, but I only squeezed him tighter, burying my face into his neck as the dark surface of the ocean rushed up. Just before we hit the water, I managed to snap my fingers, casting a thin, elastic barrier around us to cushion the impact.
Splash!
We broke the surface of the cold ocean, plunging deep into the dark, silent water. The bubbles rushed past us, reflecting the starlight from above like liquid silver.
Kai tried to pull back slightly to look around and resurface, but I wouldn't let him.
I wrapped my legs around his waist, locking my arms around his shoulders, and pressed my lips back onto his.
I kissed him again, deeper this time, tasting the salt of the sea and the warmth of his breath. The cold water surrounded us, but within my barrier, there was only him.
You are mine, Kai.
Under the stars, in the ocean, forever.
I will never let you go.
I will not let you leave my arms all night.
As we sank deeper into the dark, quiet depths of the sea, the rest of the world faded into nothingness. The academy, the capital, the suitors—they didn't exist. He was the only thing I had ever wanted, and I would never, ever lose him.
Above us, through the dark surface of the water, the stars continued to shoot across the sky.